Miso Soup
by Ars
Summary: The Stage is set. The actors are in position. The curtain is rising. Shinji Ikari is about to face a challenge greater than that of The End...and he is not alone. Rating changed due to "happy images" in Chapter 3.
1. Setting the Stage

Miso Soup (for the Soul) FL-00  
  
July 3, 2016  
  
Ikari Shinji woke to a normal morning in Tokyo-3. The cicadas were chirping, humming their songs of sound, letting the city know that it was still living and thriving for one more day, at the very least. Light snuffling and snores echoed through the apartment, letting the young Ikari that the other persons who shared the living space with him were still under the effect of tranquility.  
  
Ikari Shinji very much cherished these times. They were the things that made him happy. His friends were his happiness. As well as his music.  
  
Shinji's eyes widened slightly. He could not remember the last time he played his cello. But then remembrance struck him. He had played his cello alone, quietly letting his memories catch him, the afternoon before Asuka.  
  
He shook his head. That was past.  
  
Silently, so the females of the house wouldn't be disturbed, he left his bed and prepared to face the day. Even though he was bothered by something his mind could not focus on.  
  
---  
  
"What's for breakfast, Baka?" Asuka said as she made her usual morning insult.  
  
"Miso soup. Good for whatever's troubling you. Or for what's troubling me," Shinji added under his breath. Asuka, however, picked up on it immediately.  
  
"Something wrong with you, Baka? Besides the normal problems, I mean. Are you depressed," Asuka said in a way one would talk to a child "Or did someone turn you down? Poor Baka can't get a date? Aww, poor baby."  
  
To Shinji's credit, he made not one comment, even as Asuka lapsed into "Baby Talk Mode". He continued to stir the soup.  
  
As Asuka started parading around the room, pointing at Shinji and hurling insults, the boy wondered how Misato could sleep through all the noise Asuka was making. Before the Second Child could make her third trip around the kitchen, Shinji stepped right in front of her. "Aww, did I get baby Baka mad? Is he gonna try to hurt me?"  
  
The Third moved his face closer to Asuka's, who, in turn, stood still, face mocking. Their faces were mere centimeters apart. It looked as if a standoff was occurring or a repeat of the night when Asuka kissed Shinji was about to happen. Then, before Asuka could do anything, Shinji said pointblank into her face-  
  
"Would you like some tea with your miso?"  
  
Asuka, prepared for anything else, was shocked with surprise. She literally fell down on her butt. Shinji stood in the same position he was in before the girl's fall, smiling slightly.  
  
"BAKA! You were planning to kiss me weren't you!?"  
  
Here we go.Shinji's mind internally sighed.  
  
"No, I wasn't."  
  
"Yes, you were! You just changed your mind at the last second to save your ass!"  
  
A bit of annoyance got to Shinji. "If I didn't kiss you, then why are you making such a big deal about it?"  
  
Oooo-got her there! thought Shinji's mind.  
  
Asuka turned bright red. Turning on the ball of her foot, she ran out of the kitchen with a very audible "Baka!" trailing behind her. Torn between satisfaction and guilt, Shinji returned to his miso soup.  
  
"Maybe I should make that tea."  
  
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Opening the door to his room, Shinji found that something was missing. His room was neat almost to the point of being hyper-orderly, so he could tell immediately that an object was out of place. It didn't register in his brain at first, but Shinji realized what had been lost.  
  
But it couldn't be. Only he could hold that marvelous object. Asuka, Misato, even Pen-Pen knew to leave it well alone.  
  
Face cramped into a frown, Shinji quietly made his way to Misato's door. Crouching slightly, he put his ear to the wood and listened hard. A snore. Then a louder snort. Shinji's frowned even more. Hoping he had just misplaced it, the boy crept over to the shaped wood that made up Asuka's door. Placing his ear on the wooden creation, he could barely hear sounds as they floated through the doorway and into his ear canal. His fears confirmed, Shinji stood up and slid open the door, not bothering to knock, knowing full well the girl wouldn't hear it. Asuka sat propped up on her bed, eyes closed, one hand swaying in time to miniscule tones.  
  
The other hand held Shinji's SDAT.  
  
Always patient, Shinji waited until the audible KA-CHUNK was heard. Asuka's eyes were still shut, so he cleared his throat just in case she didn't hear him entering.  
  
"I know why you're here Baka," Asuka yawned "I just wanted to listen to some music, that's all."  
  
"You could have asked me. I was still in the kitchen."  
  
"I know. I just figured I didn't need permission from a hentai like you if you were just going to drool over yourself because I asked."  
  
Slight annoyance crossed Shinji's face "I'm not a pervert."  
  
Asuka scoffed "Tell me another one, *Baka*."  
  
Shinji turned and started to leave, but a flash of red hair and the lock of a lock told him that he was in for a different fate. Asuka had dashed in front of him and locked him in. With her.  
  
Warning signals blared inside Shinji's mind.  
  
"Now baka, you can't have your tape-thingy back unless you give me a GOOD reason why you're not a pervert. And you can't leave unless you give me TWO MORE good reasons. Start talking."  
  
Shinji immediately saw the trick. He was in a "damned-if-you-do-damned-if- you-don't" situation with a bad outcome in sight, unless he could talk his way out. One was worse than the other, he supposed.  
  
"Fine. One-I do not obsess about girls every single waking moment of my life. Two-I've never looked at any hentai magazines-"  
  
"Right..."  
  
"I'm serious! Three-um...I'm just not like that."  
  
"Nope! Need a better answer!"  
  
"Agh! Well..."  
  
"Well what Baka? Spit it out!"  
  
"It's not right! I mean, it's disgusting that people are actually like that, and when a person is so deep in pervertedness, I don't think they could ever really love someone."  
  
Asuka was left speechless. She recovered after a second.  
  
"Good enough, I guess. Here's your SDAT thing and get out."  
  
"Thanks, Asuka-chan." Shinji blushed deep red at the slip of the tongue. Asuka too was a similar red shade.  
  
"OUT!!" she shouted, face changing from red to light pink.  
  
Shinji was pushed out the door, stumbling. The door slammed shut, rattling in its frame. Both teens sighed and slumped against the door, back-to-wood- to-back.  
  
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Shinji slid down the finely grained door, cursing at himself internally. Externally, the blush would not recede from his face. Slightly confused at the reaction a simple slip of the tongue could make, and embarrassed as hell for both himself and Asuka, the boy sat there. He imagined he could feel the body heat from Asuka radiating from behind the door...but he shook his head sharply to clear any oncoming ideas. Pen-Pen waddled down the hall to find Shinji combating his inner conflict. Being the peaceful, easy-going penguin that he was, Pen2 waddled to Asuka's door, turned, and let his body slide down the wood, much like Shinji. Seeing this prompted a warm smirk from the young Ikari, which in turn grew into a full-hearted smile. Shinji reached out and ruffled the penguin's head-feathers and stood up. He walked into the kitchen, saying "Thanks. Sardines sound good?"  
  
Pen-Pen "Wuagh"ed in agreement.  
  
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Asuka, however, had no magical penguin to help her deal with conflicting emotions. She did have cool female intellect, which she wielded with great precision.  
  
Okay Asuka. It was just a slip. Yeah, like he would-NO! Think calm! Now, think of reasons why he said it.  
  
The female intellectuality within almost made a whirring noise as it kicked itself into high speed.  
  
One-it really was just a slip. Not all that believable, but still... Two-he's been thinking naughty thoughts and it slipped out-ew, sick! Three-he was being polite. No, couldn't be. His reaction gave it away. All which lead to... Four-he...has feelings for...me!  
  
The last idea seemed so absurd Asuka burst into laughter, but quickly caught herself. No sound was made from the other side of the door, so it was safe to assume Shinji had left.  
  
"Oh," Asuka said. "What a laugh!"  
END CHAPTER ONE  
  
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Googly! Hello from me to you! This fic of which you have on your screen right now is a first-it's a romance fic!!! Er, soon to be romance fic.  
  
I'm gonna juggle this series, called the "Miso Soup Saga of Luv!", with my "Angel Walking" series. Provided I still have loads of time on my hands, feet, fingers and toes, I can safely churn out chapters for both. But reviews are needed to keep these things going! So review please! I can't do it because it'd look pretty silly if I tried to review my own fics! Now I must eat the Cat of Doom! What am I saying?! I can't eat my cat! It provides me with much needed nuzzling power and runs on an inextinguishable purring motor! Yay!  
  
No characters were mistreated in any way during the making of this chapter. Every whim was catered to, though it was hard to find an exact replica of a Shogun Dynasty temple for Asuka, so we left that out.  
  
Whistler Fics, March 2003, Fic End 


	2. Coping with Existence, Part One

Coping with Existence, Part One FL-00  
  
July 4, 2016  
  
Morning.  
  
Something was wrong. Seriously out of place. Unusual.  
  
It was an annoying itch. Something that couldn't be scratched as easily as a simple mosquito bite. It was to dark to notice at first, so he pressed a button to activate the internal lights. The light speared through the room, too fast for his eyes to adjust normally. He shielded his eyes from the blinding fury. As his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he finally noticed what was wrong.  
  
There was no beer.  
  
Wildly, Pen-Pen turned his small, refrigerated room upside down in an attempt to find his morning supply of beer. Finding none, his Penguin mind temporarily took a nose-dive in sanity. For a few minutes, random connections were made. Maybe Shinji had taken his beer and dumped it out in an attempt to get him to stop drinking. Kaji had sneaked over to bathe in the sweet, sweet liquid. Asuka had stolen it and she and Shinji had gotten so drunk, they admitted their feeling for each other and ran off, presumably to get hitched and/or buy more beer. Misato might have drunk all of it during his sleep-time. This seemed most logical idea, so Pen-Pen calmed down a bit, wondering what to do to Misato to get back at her for the loss of the beer.  
  
During this little line of thought, Pen-Pen made another connection. He remembered that he had forgotten to stock up on beer before the night, and therefore panicked. Slapping a flipper against his head, he pressed another button to open the door to the outside world...and beer.  
  
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Shinji stepped out of the bathroom just as Pen-Pen waddled to the door. Before the penguin stepped inside, he stopped the boy and gave him a couple of pats on the leg, followed by what looked an all-knowing smile. Confused, Shinji patted the penguin on the head and watched as Pen-Pen slid the door shut. Running water was heard soon after. Shinji just shook his head.  
  
"Weird," he said, and walked to his room.  
  
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Asuka would admit one thing about Shinji. He had a VERY nice taste in music. The SDAT tape she had listened to yesterday had a mix of classical and old 20th century jazz, which was contrasted by some rock (there had been a Smashing Pumpkins song that she hadn't heard in a while on the tape). Everything on the little SDAT tape she either agreed with or disagreed with so much she couldn't help but like it anyway. She found herself wishing to find an SDAT player of her own.  
  
She also found herself wondering about yesterday's events. The ones that had happened after Shinji apparently grew some sort of a spine. She kept thinking about his reasons for his non-pervertedness. Especially the last reason. She was surprised somebody like Bak-like Shinji could give that detailed of an answer. Then again, he wasn't exactly like Toji and Kensuke...  
  
And when he said her name like someone you would lo-  
  
No. Not right now. Despite what she told herself, her brain had a different idea. Asuka felt her body warm and her face burn. Knowing that it might not stop sometime soon, she got up out of bed, put on a housecoat, and made her way to the bathroom. She almost pulled the door open when she realized that the water was running. She had heard water running earlier, but assumed it was Pen-Pen, as the bird usually woke early to bathe first. She knew Misato slept in, so her brain thought of Shinji. Then her brain thought of Shinji in the shower and made images to accompany the thought. Blushing harder, she ran back to her room, accidentally thumping the door in the process.  
  
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Pen-Pen looked up from his shower. He waited a few seconds before returning to his bathing, shrugging in the way only a Penguin can.  
  
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Misato felt like dirt. Looked like hell. And surprisingly didn't smell as bad as she thought. At least she wouldn't have to bug the others by making an appearance in the kitchen to get her morning beer. Beer. 'Oh shit,' she thought. 'I forgot to remind Pen-Pen about his personal stock.' Oh well, she figured, as she helped herself to a Yebisu from the little mini-fridge next to her bed. She had wisely made the purchase after Shinji had politely told her of Asuka's complaints about her "entrance" in the kitchen after a night of hard drinking. Soon after that Asuka, feeling Shinji didn't do a good enough job, told her flat out that it was pretty damn gross when she walked, and sometimes crawled, into the kitchen smelling of alcohol or vomit or both. Getting the hint, she bought the mini-fridge and hadn't heard a complaint since.  
  
She and Kaji had patched things up recently (owing to the fact that Kaji FINALLY had a full-time job at NERV), and were trying to make up for lost time. What had been even better was the fact that Asuka had finally realized that a relationship with Kaji wouldn't work out, no matter how hard she tried. Kaji still worked odd jobs for the Commander, but was more integrated with helping Section Two and working as a courier for the different sections. Misato smiled at the thought. Kaji the Mail Boy. She chuckled and stretched, rubbing up against a warm, soft object.  
  
She froze involuntarily, her military training taking over, but eased down when she realized it was the Mail Boy she had been thinking about. Misato remembered the beers shared the night before...the little comments passed between...the small touches and kisses...she smiled again and blushed. Kaji was passed out next to her, smile on his face, drooling slightly. Misato's face grew into a full grin. In the years she had known Kaji, she couldn't remember a time when he drooled in his sleep. Maybe she was just noticing it. Maybe he just developed it. Whatever the case, she put her beer down, and snuggled against Kaji's inviting warmth.  
  
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Shinji rummaged around in the cupboard-slash-pantry, looking for something for him to create into an edible, if not delicious, breakfast. He made a mental mark after noticing that the rice was running a little low. Shinji decided to make a kind of Western-style breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast, and an amount of something called "hash browns" he had read about in a cookbook in the local bookstore. 'Asuka should enjoy this. She has been wanting something other than Japanese food for a while now,' he thought. The boy gathered the foodstuffs necessary to make the planned meal from the small, off-to-the-side refrigerator that contained things other than beer.  
  
The shower stopped and a door slid open and shut in the background, signaling the end of Asuka's shower time. Shinji couldn't help but blush at the remembrance of the events of the day before. When the memory of his little slip-up came to mind, he cursed slightly under his breath and ground the palm of his hand into his forehead.  
  
'Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, DUMB,' he thought over and over. 'Why did I have to let that pop out? It just embarrassed both of us and got her pissed at me! I feel so stupid! But why did that come out!? Why!?'  
  
"Why?!" Shinji spoke out loud, unknowingly.  
  
"Why what?"  
  
The first thought that came to Shinji's mind was "Crap!", which was a natural reaction to getting caught or discovered in any way. His second thought was his brain's reflex to identify the speaker. His third thought was that of panic as his brain reached the conclusion of Asuka as the questioner.  
  
"Well? Why what?" Asuka asked again.  
  
"Ahh...why don't we have something else for breakfast! Yeah! How does a traditional Western breakfast sound?"  
  
'Smooth, Shinji. Very smooth,' he thought as Asuka's face lit up with a grin.  
  
"'Bout time you started listening to me, Shinji," Asuka stated, smiling proudly. "I thought I might've had to take matters into my own hands." Shinji smiled a little at that. From what he had seen, Asuka had never cooked a day in the time he had known her besides a few times, leaving it up to Shinji and occasionally (but not preferably) Misato. On that thought, Shinji wondered if their guardian had woken up yet. Ever since she had gotten that mini-fridge, per his and Asuka's request of course, her appearance in the kitchens in the mornings had dropped off, and she usually made clean entrances during the day. Rather than risk bothering her and possibly causing unwanted trouble, Shinji started his cooking, knowing that Misato wouldn't mind.  
  
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Misato had almost fallen asleep in Kaji's arms when she felt him stir. Turning to face him, she saw the man's nose perk a little, sniffing the air. His eyes opened and lock onto hers. Misato leaned into him for a kiss, one he gladly returned. After coming up for air, Kaji sniffed the air again and slurred "Whazzat? Izzat hazz brownz?" Misato sniffed the air and nodded a reply. "Ooh! I loves hazz brownz!" the man tried to get up from the bed, but ended getting tangled in the sheets and fell to the bed. Misato was a bit startled to see him fall, but laughed when he landed on the mattress, causing it to bounce. She grew slightly more serious when the smell of something else washed over her.  
  
"Kaji?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"You smell like beer. Go take a shower."  
  
"Hm'kay..."  
  
Misato watched as Kaji stumbled out of bed, opened the door to her bathroom and almost fell inside. She chuckled and got herself another beer.  
  
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Asuka grabbed herself a can of orange juice and proceeded to the living room to practice the art of the channel-surf. Her mind wandered around, trying to find something to focus on. Eventually she came upon the topic of remote controls. 'We use them practically everyday. They can be used for one or more things. They have the power to turn something on or off. Essentially, the remotes have power over us because we depend on them to do menial tasks, like change a song on a stereo or channel on a TV. Spooky.' She continued to surf, waiting for Baka to finish cooking. 'Boy,' she thought again. 'Those hash browns smell good.'  
  
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"Asuka! Breakfast is ready!" Shinji called out from the kitchen. Sounds of movement from the living room and the static SNAP of the television being turned off told him that Asuka was indeed coming. He made his way over to Misato's door and knocked a few times.  
  
"Misato," he called. "Breakfast."  
  
The door opened to reveal Kaji standing behind it, left arm outstretched to open the door. He smiled at Shinji's surprised look.  
  
"Morning Shinji! I see you're looking well. Say, are those hash browns I smell?"  
  
Shinji got over his shock. "Hai. When did you get here, Kaji-san? I didn't hear you come in this morning."  
  
"We came in late last night, after you kids had gone to bed. Didn't want to bother anyone, so we were pretty quiet about it. Oh, we also thought of going out to dinner tonight at some new fancy restaurant not too far from here. You and Asuka are welcome to come if you want."  
  
The boy shrugged but nodded. "It'll be a nice change of pace, going out to a fancy restaurant. I'll see what Asuka thinks."  
  
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"Hey Asuka."  
  
Asuka replied back with something that sounded vaguely like "What's up" followed by "Baka". It was hard to pick out the words due to Asuka's mouth being crammed full with bacon and maple syrup.  
  
"Kaji and Misato thought about going to a nice, new restaurant tonight, one that's pretty close to here. Do you want to come?"  
  
Asuka's answer came back in a muffled reply.  
  
"Okay, great. I'll tell them right now."  
  
Asuka swallowed her bacon. "Kaji's here right now? When did he get in?"  
  
"Apparently he and Misato got in late last night, after we went to sleep."  
  
"I went to bed around one and I didn't hear anything. Must've gotten in REAL late. It sounds like a good idea and it might be a change from what we usually eat."  
  
Shinji didn't know whether to take that as a complement or insult, but left anyway. Asuka remained in the kitchen, thinking about what would happen later and if she would be able to ask some questions that had been floating in her head lately...  
  
END CHAPTER TWO  
  
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Whee! This is chapter two, "Coping with Existence"...PART ONE!!! Yes, I plan on extending this chapter onto another, "Coping with Existence, part two", to further enhance the spookiness. Damn! Aren't I spooky?!  
  
Apologies abound for the MAJOR time gap between the first chapter and this. Personal life and Writing life mixed, making a big confusion, and screwed with my stories. Thanks to those who've waited in EAGER ANTICIPATION for this chapter to come out. I'm gonna try to stick to a possibly workable biweekly schedule. That means every two weeks a chapter comes out! Oh crabs it's so fun!  
  
As some of you may point out, most of the romance in this chapter was focused on Misato and Kaji. This was INTENTIONAL, people, just to get some sort of plot going and add some fuel to the Romantic Fire. Or something like that. Don'tchu worry, the WAFFy stuff between Asuka and Shinji will happen eventually, possibly sooner than you think.  
  
Anyway, it's past Three AM on my side of the world (try and track me-I dare ya) and instead of sleeping I will now proceed to work on the next chapters. Either that or play video games until sunrise, where I will re- nail the blankets around my windows in an effort to block out that DAMN, DIRTY DAYSTAR!!!  
  
Cheers and Lucky Moon Cats.  
  
If you want to drop me a line concerning something with either of my fanfics, scream at me for no good reason, or just want to talk to me for the hell of it, send it to the regular e-mail Inbox.  
  
I'm getting better with replying.  
  
FL-00 


	3. Coping With Existence, Part Two

Coping with Existence, Part Two-Ars

June 4, 2016

Afternoon.

The day had become warm and sunny, all sunshine and fuzzy feelings. Not too hot, a little over not hot enough, just the perfect temperature. It made people want to find their own patch of sunlight, beneath a tree that let juuuuust enough sun through it's branches, and stick a sign into the ground next to it that read "Sunbeam property of...ME! Haha! Stay off my sunbeam or I'll sic the squirrels on ya! GO, MY MINIONS!"

Or something like so.

However, on this wonderful of wonderful days, not everyone was sunbathing in his or her own private sunbeam. Two teenagers, bored out of their skulls, were contemplating what to do. One was thinking of playing a certain cello to relieve some of the boredom he was suffering from until the evening. The other was thinking along less musical terms, trying to follow the television show she was barely hanging onto mentally.

Both were trying quite hard not to think of the other.

* * *

Shinji finally got fed up with his own thoughts and decided to break out the cello. He pulled the case from his closet and delicately laid it on the floor. Opening the case, he pulled the cello upright and picked up his bow. Nudging away the case with his foot, he propped the instrument against his leg. Shinji was ready to play, but the problem was that he didn't know WHAT to play. He decided to ad-lib for a while until his mind came up with something.

He put his bow to the strings and produced a low, clean hum. Satisfied with his cello's tuning, he proceeded to make music.

* * *

Asuka was knocked out of her mind haze when she noticed a deep, yet quiet humming noise emanating from the hall. Particularly coming from Shinji's room. Although she swore she wouldn't say it out loud and NEVER to Shinji, every time she heard his music she stopped whatever she was doing at the moment and listened as well as she could. It was rare to hear the boy play and even rarer still to see him play for an audience. She turned off the TV and sat alone on the couch, eyes closed. Even though Shinji was in his room, probably sitting on the edge of his bed, eyes closed in concentration, the way Asuka focused on his music made it seem like he was right there, alongside her.

A tear leaked out.

Asuka wiped the tear away angrily. How dare her tear ducts shed any of their contents for anyone! Especially HIM! It had never happened before as the boy played. Why should it now? "Damn you, Shinji," she swore quietly. "Damn you for your kindness, your patience, and your wonderful music." She sniffled a little as the cello picked up a bit in volume, changing into something that sounded like "Ode to Joy".

Shinji Ikari continued to play for the audience of one he didn't even know he had.

* * *

The reverberations from the wooden craft of art flowed from pitch to pitch, humming low and high, first slow, then fast. Effortlessly, his bow slid across the strings. Concentration was gone from his mind as he freed his thoughts go and let his fingers dance.

It always led back to Ode.

He found himself smiling slightly as his fingers automatically found the places they had been taught to go. The sound lessened at first before raising in a triumphant crescendo as "Ode to Joy" hummed out, crisp and clear. Even though the cello could not generate enough sound to produce the sensation of hearing the song in its full orchestral majesty, it took Beethoven's creation and added it's own qualities. It was as though the cello itself were alive and conducting a concert within its wood.

His bow, in his mind, became the conductor's baton, jolting and twirling with the music. The deep bass hum were the brass and deep-voiced string instruments; the quick, high notes, the woodwinds, violas, and violins. His fingers were in perfect unison with those of the imaginary orchestral music-makers, never faltering, or hesitating. The orchestra pitched and swelled, living in a concert hall of a polished and well-used cello. Time was, for the moment or minute or age it took to play the Ode to Joy, oblivious.

Shinji wondered if his mother could see this.

His mood was darkened slightly when he realized the only sounds his mother could hear were ones of raging battles, shrieking Angels, and the quiet buzz of NERV headquarters working around her. The Evangelion Unit One, keeper of Yui Ikari's soul.

As if responding to his sudden lapse in happiness, Shinji's cello produced a loud SQUEEEEK! The boy jumped slightly and laughed nervously. He gently opened the case of the cello and placed it inside, taking a moment to put the bow in a separate side pocket. Stretching and popping his back, Shinji glanced over at his bedside digital clock. The display read 6:37. Alarmed, the boy opened his door and literally ran into Asuka, falling to the floor.

"Aaah! Gomen! Gomen!" Shinji repeatedly apologized, trying to pick himself off the floor. A blushing Asuka looked ready to kill the young man, but simply shrugged it off (an action rarely done by the young lady), and pulled Shinji upright. "You ever try to grope me like that again and they'll never find your body, baka."

"I didn't! I wasn't!"

"Whatever. Misato said you've got about thirty minutes left to get ready."

Which, of course, meant...

"We have an hour to prepare for tonight, then lounge around for another twenty to thirty minutes as she frantically tries to choose what to wear, right?" Shinji asked.

"Right," Asuka sighed. "We've been living here long enough to know our guardian's habits, hobbies, and beer choices. Must be some kind of record."

This made Shinji smile a little. Misato WAS becoming too predictable.

"One last thing," said Asuka. "I get to shower first."

Normally, Shinji didn't fight for bathroom time (owing to the fact that Asuka held the looming threat of a butt-whupping over his head), but after playing his cello for about an hour straight, he wanted to unknot his body from staying in the same position too long. "Hey! I want to relax a bit! Just this once?"

"No, Shinji." Asuka said, blushing again.

Shinji started to get frustrated. "Well, why not?"

"I'm kind of already...dressed for the occasion." She said, blushing harder.

It was only then Shinji noticed her state of dress...or rather, undress. Clad in only a towel, Asuka was trying to hold her bin of toiletries in front of any embarrassing parts, so as not to cause problems. Shinji promptly spun around, hoping he hadn't incurred the wrath of Asuka.

"I was already on my way to the bathroom when you came barging out and ran into me. I figured you were preoccupied with playing your hunk of wood, so I just nabbed a towel." Asuka explained.

Shinji frowned at his cello being called a hunk of wood but let it pass. "Fine," he conceded. "Just don't take forever this time, okay?"

"Ooooh, someone's got a spine." Asuka teased Shinji before leaving for the bathroom. He smiled, then shut his door, already deciding on what to wear for their dinner arrangement.

* * *

'When did they build THIS?' Shinji's mind wondered. The restaurant was huge. No, huge was an understatement. Gigantic was more accurate. The restaurant was a multi-tiered building, with area on each tier to hold easily a few hundred customers. The entire place could have probably fit his, Ayanami's, and Asuka's Evas, if they were crouched slightly and close together. He wondered briefly if NERV contractors had anything to do with the dynamic structure of the restaurant...but dismissed it. Instead, he focused on the ever-growing line of couples behind them. It stretched from the close to the center of the restaurant (conveniently where they were located, waiting for the maitre d' to seat them) to well beyond the door. Finally, the man checked his watch one last time, nodded to the staff, and simply, but smoothly, said, "Welcome."

In front of Shinji, Kaji extended his arm towards Misato, who gladly took it. Like some sort of nobility, they walked past the maitre d's podium, led by a waiter. Shinji almost stepped forward when his own arm was entwined around someone else's. He turned his head slightly to see Asuka, arm locked around his, leading him forward.

"What are you doing?" he whispered into her ear, alarmed.

"Hamming it up, baka." She whispered back, smiling smugly.

Shinji didn't know what ham had to do with formalities, but decided to go along with it anyway.

They were led to a large elevator near the maitre d's podium, which acted as the central hub of the restaurant. It stretched from the ground floor to the very roof of the building, stopping at each floor to allow patrons to disembark to their tables. The elevator itself was made of what seemed to be glass at first, but was really extremely resilient plastic, made to mimic glass. It was very impressive, Shinji thought, as he watched the floors drop away around and below him as the elevator rose. At the sixth floor, it stopped, and Kaji and Misato got off. Shinji followed, but Asuka held his arm tightly, and said to Misato, "We're going to be eating on the roof, okay?"

"Oh, really?" Misato said, smiling in a way Shinji wasn't sure if he liked or not. "A romantic dinner alone? The two of you? Gasp! My God, Kaji, we're becoming bad influences on them!"

Shinji blushed, and from the increase in warmth from Asuka's arm wrapped around his, he knew she doing the same as well.

Kaji just smiled knowingly, and said, "Well, if you really want to, we won't stop you. Just remember Shinji," he added with a chuckle. "The man always pays for the lady on a date."

"It's not a date!" Shinji and Asuka said simultaneously, reddening even further. Kaji and Misato just laughed, and continued on.

The elevator doors closed, and the lift returned to its climb.

Reflecting on Kaji's comment, Shinji glanced at Asuka. Her face was in full blush, complementing the vibrantly red evening dress she wore. Black arm-length gloves and heels finished the outfit, and while her face needed no makeup to further her beauty, her azure eyes were a stunning contrast. The boy suddenly felt under-dressed in his simple tuxedo. He shivered slightly, and unexpectedly.

The roof, in Shinji's opinion, seemed more extravagant than the rest of the building. It was a large, crystal-like dome that sat on the restaurant's top; the glass was so transparent that the boy had no doubt that if it wasn't for the little stained-glass patterns, he probably would have walked right into it. The fading sunlight, almost completely gone, but not quite, reflected brilliantly through the structure. That, coupled with the height of the building and the magnificent light draining from the surface of Tokyo-3, made it quite a breathtaking spectacle.

Both Children were awestruck for a moment.

"Would Sir and Madame prefer to have a window seat?" the waiter leading them smiled, noticing the effects of the dome's build. Mutely, and somewhat eerily, they both nodded in perfect unison.

* * *

Dimly, Asuka made a mental note to refer this restaurant to Hikari.

From what she had seen so far, Asuka had been damn glad to accompany Misato and Kaji. The staff was hospitable, the place was immaculately clean, and the menu...well...

"I've never heard of so many things in one menu!" Shinji gasped, leafing through the foot-and-a-half high menu. "What's creamed corn?"

Asuka sighed, and flagged down a passing waiter. "Two steaks," She said, authoritative. "One medium rare, and the other..." Asuka looked expectantly at Shinji, who was still browsing the menu with wonder. She cleared her throat, causing the boy to jump a bit, and ask, "Yes?"

"How do you want your steak, Baka?"

He frowned in confusion. "Steak?"

"Yes. Steak. Meat. How do you like it?" She said, exasperation seeping into her voice.

"I've never had steak."

"Oh, for Gott's sake--make his well done. And a couple of glasses of your best wine."

"Ma'am," the waiter said patiently. "Would you happen to have a form of identification?"

In response, Asuka pulled out her NERV ID. The waiter's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Ah...I see. Very well then." He walked off to get the drinks, sweating slightly. Not even Shinji could resist smiling a bit. NERV had way too much influence in Tokyo-3.

"So, Baka," Asuka said, after finishing a chuckle. "What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Us."

* * *

Warning sirens went off in Shinji's head.

"What do you mean, Asuka-chan?" Shinji feigned ignorance, almost visibly trying to not blush. If the affectionate title bothered or embarrassed the girl, he could see no sign.

"Well...for starters, things have been pretty normal since the Angels were defeated, right? I mean from the occasional sync test and sparring with the Evas, nothing's happened."

"Right."

"Haven't you ever thought about it before? When we were battling Angels, did you ever wonder what it would be like after Eva? After all was done and we saved the world?"

Shinji shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I used to think about it a lot, to be honest. When the end came, I thought the calm and peace would be such a shock, and for a while it was. But then it became the same as before Eva." He shook his head. "No, that's not right. Before, I had nothing. Existence was my worry. Now, I have much more."

He thought he saw a smile flit across Asuka's face.

"Pardon me."

Both jumped a little, then realized the wine had arrived.

Asuka peered at the bottle. "Sake?"

"Yes, ma'am. The highest quality rice wine we have here, as per your request."

Asuka looked ready to kill the man. She steeled herself to shout the man into the ground, stories below, when Shinji, anticipating this, covered her mouth. "This'll be fine, thanks." He took the chilled bottle from the waiter, placing it in the little ice-filled bucket on the table. The waiter bowed slightly, and walked off. After a few seconds, Shinji realized that he still was silencing Asuka, and removed his hand. "Gomen." he said, trying not to smile at Asuka's half-furious, half-impressed glare.

"Whatever, Baka," she sighed, impression winning over anger. "Shut up and pour me a glass."

* * *

"I still can't believe that stooge dropped trou right in front of me!" Asuka exclaimed, sipping her third glass of sake. "He has absolutely no shame!"

"You should have seen him when Misato visited the school for parent-teacher conferences. He almost fell out the window trying to get a good look at her!" Shinji chuckled, as he carved a small piece out of what was left of his steak.

Somewhere, deep within the recesses of Tokyo-3, in an almost pitch black room, hunched in front of a television and sweating slightly from exertion, Touji sneezed. His character on the screen faltered slightly, allowing his stooge friend to finish it off. "Dammit!"

The steaks had been delivered some time ago, and to Asuka's opinion, hers was one of the best she'd had. It tasted a little like heaven, if heaven was cooked medium rare and made of meat. Surprisingly, the sake went well with the food, and was giving her a pleasantly calm feeling. She thought she heard a buzzing noise, but dismissed it as ambient chatter. "So!" she said, trying to ignore that damned buzzing. "How's tonight been so far?"

"Rather good," Shinji said. "I'm glad we came with Misato and Kaji."

Asuka chuckled as a thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Shinji...do you remember the plugsuit I let you borrow?" She had the wicked pleasure of seeing the boy blush redder than she'd seen him before.

"I was kind of hoping to forget about that, Asuka-chan." he mumbled, eyes averted, then looked up with a grin. "How about the elevator?"

She blushed back. "I'm gonna kill that stooge." Asuka muttered.

Shinji swore he heard a sneeze from a few floors down. He shrugged, and returned to finishing off his steak. Asuka sipped a bit more sake, marveling at the sharp flavor. Another thought came to mind, and she grinned evily. "Oh yeah?" She said, preparing to knock the boy on his ass with one word. She balled up her verbal fist, pulled way back, and just as Shinji was taking a sip, she swung: "Strudel."

The boy instantly snorted into his drink.

Damn, I'm good, thought Asuka as Shinji choked and tried desperately to wipe the spilled liquid off his face as quick as possible.

"You win," he spluttered. She grinned, stood, taking the bottle of sake with her, and started walking to a side door that led out to the balcony. "Where are you going? They're going to think we skipped out on the check!"

"Stargazing, Baka. I'll see you out there."

* * *

It took Shinji a few minutes to get the check settled with the waiter (apparently the NERV-issued ID doubled as a credit card), and he joined Asuka out on the balcony. To be precise, it wasn't exactly like a balcony, but due to the grandeur of the rest of the restaurant, he was surprised to see only a squat cylinder about the width of a water storage tower occupying the rest of the spacious roof. As he opened the door to enter, he gasped in shock. Outside the cylinder, the city lights made it nearly impossible to see all but the brightest of the stars in the night sky. Inside, it was almost completely black, lit only by the mesh of stars suddenly viewable. He ducked out for a moment, looked up, and saw only a few. He entered again, and saw the sky ablaze. Shinji glanced around, and saw a dim figure beckoning him over. As he got closer, Shinji could see Asuka smiling in the starlight.

"I have to say," Asuka began, taking a swig of sake. "I am impressed."

"Yeah..." Shinji just stared up in wonder, trying to think about what kind of technology would be able to make the sky so beautiful. Both Children continued to stare at the vastness, occasionally pointing out constellations, and the longer the stargazing continued, Shinji noticed, the closer Asuka got to him, until they were rubbing shoulders. The boy wondered if this was another of Asuka's tricks to bait him into trying something, then screaming pervert, but decided to let her try. He wasn't going to be fooled.

That is, until Asuka kissed gently him on the cheek.

He froze, completely unsure of what to do. Her lips were so soft, and warm...no! I musn't think of such things, he thought desperately. Asuka nuzzled into his side, arms wrapped around him, sake bottle all but forgotten on a nearby table. "I'm sorry, Shinji-kun."

"A-Asuka?"

"I've treated you like dirt ever since we met. I've called you names, hurt you, embarrassed you...can you ever forgive me?" she asked, with slightly wet eyes. Shinji realized that Asuka was either drunk or feeling very, very apologetic at the moment. He was betting on the former.

"Asuka?" he asked, placing a hand on her cheek. She nuzzled into it, confirming Shinji's fear. "Come on. We should go...we can't let Misato and Kaji see you like this." He picked her up, supporting her as they walked to the exit of the observatory. Shinji stuck his head out the door to check for any of the other patrons--thankfully, there was nobody around. He opened the door for Asuka to exit, and she walked somewhat unsteadily through, apologizing constantly. Rather than get annoyed, Shinji helped her out onto the roof and back to the doors of the dome. He noticed an elevator nearby, less extravagant than the first, and opaque. They entered, and Shinji pressed the button for ground floor, fumbling around Asuka's form. The girl clung to him, protectively, almost sobbing apology after apology into his shoulder.

As the elevator descended, Shinji picked Asuka's head up, looking into her teary blue eyes. He blushed at the bold move, but said in a gentle voice, "Asuka-chan, I need you to dry your eyes, okay? We'll be out of here in a second, and on our way home. Will you do that for me, please?"

He stopped breathing when Asuka kissed his cheek again, slowly, and for quite some time. He tried not to think of her warmth as she stepped back and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Okay, Shinji-kun."

The lift reached floor level. Asuka straightened as best she could, and stepped out, holding onto his arm as before. Shinji led them to the exit as quickly as possible, waving good night to the maitre d'. Asuka waved a tipsy good-bye as well, then clung to Shinji once more. They both cleared the door without so much as a glance from the people waiting in line. Shinji breathed a little easier.

They made it about another block before Asuka stumbled, legs suddenly not working. Shinji gasped, grabbing for her, picking her up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said, slowly, quietly. "I'm okay..." Her legs slid out from under her, and she almost collapsed to the ground. Shinji held her up. He knew she couldn't make it home like this on her own.

"Climb on."

* * *

Thank god, Shinji thought, that they decided to build the damn place so close to Misato's.

"Hey," Asuka said, behind him. "Why do they call it piggy-back?" It was the fourth time she had said that in ten minutes, but Shinji asked "Why?" anyway.

"I don't know," she giggled, squeezing his hand gently. "I was hoping you could tell me."

Even though Asuka wasn't heavy, and he wasn't that physically weak, Shinji's arms were tiring, and his back was starting to hurt after carrying the girl piggy-back style for the past eight blocks. The upside to the whole situation was the fact that Asuka had been holding his hand for the past eight blocks as well. Her warmth was the motivation to get her home safely.

"Just a little more..." he said.

Another five minutes, an elevator trip, and several awkward stumbles later, they were at the apartment. Shinji placed Asuka down and held her against him while he pulled out his keycard to open the door, but as the door slid open, Shinji lost his balance, causing them to fall into the apartment. He almost shouted in shock, and wrapped his arms around Asuka to prevent her from injury.

The neighbors below, an elderly couple in their late seventies, had almost gotten to sleep when the ceiling shook slightly, and they heard a loud THUMP! The man grumbled something about lack of respect for peace and quiet. The woman just adjusted the little mask covering her eyes.

Shinji recovered from the nasty little fall, groaning a bit from the pain in his back, but his attention soon turned to the girl laying on him, in his arms.

"Asuka!"

She had an ear pressed to his chest, eyes closed. "Shh..." she whispered. "I can hear your heart."

Shinji's heartbeat almost doubled in an instant. A thousand scenarios flashed through his mind. Misato walking in on them seemed to be the prominant cause for worry in most of them. He had a right to worry; Asuka was lying almost full-length on him, hands on his shoulders, legs locked around his. He could feel them pressing through her evening dress, almost as if the dress itself wasn't there. He swallowed, nervously trying not to make things worse.

Asuka looked up, into his eyes. She was blushing so slightly, a peaceful look on her face, a small smile on her lips. She moved closer to his face.

"I want to kiss you..." she said, inches away.

"Do you want to kiss me?" she said, centimeters away.

"Yes..." he said, thinking of nothing else, millimeters away.

As the space between them closed to a mere breath, Shinji thought once, _I musn't run away._

They kissed.

Immediately, Shinji found that this was a far different experience than the first night they kissed. For one, his nose was free to breathe, which he found to be a luxury. He focused on the warmth of her lips, the soft texture of them, the smooth pebbley feel of her tongue against his as it hesitently ventured into his mouth. His arms never moved from around her waist, encircling her, protecting her. He gave himself to the kiss, as she gave herself as well, suckling gently against his mouth. The warm weight of her form on his was as much stimulating as her kiss.

He was lost. Oblivious to all but Asuka. Dimly, a small bit of doubt floated through his mind, a remnant of his fear of rejection.

"Please...don't stop!" Asuka moaned as she came up for air.

That bit of doubt was stamped upon repeatedly by a large, Eva-like foot, and booted from his mind.

They met in a second kiss, stronger and more intense than the last. Shinji could taste the sake she had drank, spicing her breath and the sensation of her lips, spurning him for more. Again they kissed, each warmer and deeper than before. All doubt melted away from his mind, giving way to pleasure, familiarity, togetherness. The solid feel of Asuka reassured Shinji that this was not a dream, or a fantasy, and her want of him was an assurance that this was real.

Presently, Shinji became aware of a problem that had developed during the course of he and Asuka's kissing. Asuka seemed to have noticed it as well; she was blushing redder than her Unit-Two.

"Um...I think I should move." said Shinji.

Asuka just silently nodded, picking herself up with evident reluctance. Shinji stood, almost hurting himself in the process from the sudden limitations of his pants. Asuka giggled, and allowed herself to be led to her room, holding his hand the entire way. They dodged the occasional beer can, and moved aside the stray instant ramen cup, finally reaching Asuka's room. Shinji slid the door open, and helped Asuka to her bed...but before she climbed in, the girl stopped him.

"What's wrong?" Shinji asked, worried.

"It's nothing...just...stand still for me, would you?"

Shinji stood completely still as Asuka took a few breaths and turned herself around. She stepped back until his chest was connecting against her back, took his hands in hers, and raised them to her--

Shinji immediately stiffened. (Author's Note: Bad pun!)

Asuka leaned back and kissed him once more. The warmth of her--no! But they felt so--gah!

"Just enjoy it." She smiled gently, breaking from their kiss, holding his hands in place.

Shinji took in a breath, then released slowly, calming his tension. Asuka kept his hands there for a few heartbeats more, then lowered them. He helped her into bed, covering her gently. She smiled at his kindness, kissed a hand softly, holding it. Shinji took the chair from her little desk/clothes drawer, and sat down by the bed, never letting go of Asuka's hand.

They stayed like that for the rest of the night.

* * *

Hoooooooleeeeee Shit! Damn, but it has been a while!

Yes people, contrary to fact, I am and/or was not dead; I was just hibernating, due to procrastination that exceeded an amount of time it should have. I live to write another day! Hopefully.

It's been a heck of a couple of years (I think), but now that I'm finally leaving some of the chains of education behind (read: graduating) I can focus on more fanfic writing! It's a win-win scenario, why not! Well, sort of. I'm going to lose a major source of inspiration for writing, but as they say, adaptation is a necessity.

Wait. That may be wrong. Oh well.

Thanky Dance to: the wonderful people I call my friends, whom I made promise to get me drunk before graduation; Jolt Cola and Wet-Planet Beverages, for FINALLY rearing their heads in my local area. Mmm...Jolt...; Alan Rickman, who made absolutely no contribution to the making and putting-off of this fic--I just wanted to add him because of his excellent voice acting done for Marvin the Paranoid Android; and the mean bastard who invented where I get most of my news from. Sad, isn't it?

Apology shuffle at: the esteemed Strike Fiss, for the "buzzed joke". Sorry, Fiss, I couldn't resist throwing that in there. Go check out his website ( as an apology if you haven't heard of him yet.

As always, though now recently renewed and refurbished, you can email me at if you'd like to throw down the gauntlet! or just send me a What's Up or something.

Cheers.

Ars


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